ORIGIN

Why We Love Them: E24 BMW 6-Series

There’s more than a little to love about 80’s BMW’s, from quad round headlights to shark noses, compact dimensions, thin pillars, and torquey, tuneful straight-sixes to give an abbreviated list, and the E24 in particular is one of our very favorites. They’re satisfyingly tactile cars, a characteristic you’ll notice even before turning the ignition switch, when the door shuts with a precise, reassuringly mechanical click. Then there’s the airy, comfortable cabin, complete with an angular, driver-oriented dash, big, super-legible analog instruments. and large windows affording nearly unobstructed 360° visibility.

You don’t need a pristine Euro-spec M6 to have a rewarding experience with an E24, as even lower-spec, driver-level examples make for stylish, quick, and interesting GT cars, and few coupes of the late 70’s and 80’s sum up all that was good about the era so well.

Though BMW’s Disco/Reagan Era GT coupe always wore handsome, sharp-suited Paul Bracq styling, the model collectively referred to today as the E24 actually encompassed two distinct generations, the first of which ran from 1976 to 1981. These earlier E24/1 6-Series were built atop the then-current first-gen, E12 chassis code 5-Series platform, and were given the greenlight as a replacement for the lovely, pillar-less E9 of 1968 – ’75.

Initial model availability included 630CS and 633CSi specs, the latter of which shared the same 3.0 liter displacement but added Bosch L-Jetronic fuel injection for 194 hp and 210 lb. ft. of torque, respective improvements of 12 and 22 over the carb-fed car. As with all of its E9 predecessors, early cars were bodied by Karmann, though production moved fully in-house by 1978.

Dimensions, in Euro small-bumper form, were a fair bit larger than those of the final 3.0 CS, stretching 4.5 inches longer from nose to tail and roughly 3″ wider from door skin to door skin. The E24’s wheelbase remained virtually unchanged from that of the earlier coupe however, measuring just .5″ longer at 103.5″.

North American sales were delayed until 1977, and US and Canadian buyers’ patience was rewarded with massive impact bumpers that added nearly five inches to the E24’s overall length. Restricted to a single engine in the form of a fuel-injected but smog-choked, 176 hp version of the ROW-spec base 3.0 liter, North American 630CSi’s would be joined by a 633CSi in 1978, offering just a single extra horse but noticeably healthier mid-range torque for much improved real-world drivability.

Notable motorsports victories included the Spa 24 Hours in 1983, the same year that Dieter Quester drove a 635CSi to clinch the European Touring Car Driver’s Cup. In 1984 and ’85, Axel Feder won the Nurburgring 24 Hours driving Schnitzer-prepared 635CSi’s, and in ’86 Roberto Ravaglia drove a similar car to the E24’s final ETC championship.

Backtracking a bit, mid-1982 saw the E24’s first and only major facelift, though despite the connotations of that commonly-used term, changes were primarily found under the skin. As the E24 had been built around 5-Series underpinnings from the start, introduction of the second-gen, E28 5er saw BMW update the big coupe with that car’s new suspension, which despite retaining a MacPherson strut front/semi-trailing arm rear, now featured heavily revised geometry in order to improve accuracy at the front and reduce tendency towards trailing-throttle oversteer at the back. These cars are commonly referred to as E24/2’s, and were built until 1989.

Monetarily range-topping 635CSi models received a new engine, replacing the earlier 3453cc M90 with the slightly smaller 3430cc M30B34 as found in the contemporary 735i. Power remained unchanged at 215 hp (181 in US form), however further-spaced cylinder bores and other changes brought with them greater reliability, while around the same time the previous 3-speed automatic was switched to a 4-speed with locking torque converter, bringing with it both improved response and fuel economy. Early on, both 4 and 5-speed manual gearboxes had been available, though by this period only the latter was offered.

The above chart tracks BaT Auctions sales results for E24’s of all types, as found on our BaT Model Page here.

September ’83 brought with it the earliest M-version of the E24, namely the M635CSi. Utilizing an M88/3 version of the M1 supercar’s M88 twin-cam, 24-valve 3.5 liter M88/1, the race-bred, six-throttle unit revved with enthusiasm and made great sounds on the way to producing 286 hp at 6,500 rpm. Paired with lower, tighter suspension and wider Michelin TRX rubber, the M635CSi was also specced with a close-ratio Getrag 5-speed driving a standard limited slip rear incorporating a shorter final drive ratio, all of which helped achieve low-six-second range 0-100 km/h (62 mph) en route to a 158 mph top–serious performance for the time, beating out even the Lotus Esprit Turbo and top-tier Euro-market Porsche 928’s.

This period factory promotional video is a fun watch, starting out with lots of retro-futuristic synth music, early computer graphics, and period BMW/Brabham Formula One footage. Next, three-time world champion Nelson Piquet shows up in his F1 racing suit and proceeds to hammer an M6 around Circuit Paul Ricard, complete with lots of sideways action and great sounds from the screaming M88/3. Though the rest of the video is in Dutch (with German subtitles), Piquet calmly narrates his hot lap in English as if he was relaxing in a recliner.

Notably, and despite being the fastest, sharpest production BMW of the period, the M635CSi was not a homologation car, with competition models based on standard, non-M, single-cam 635CSi’s. Following a familiar pattern, North American buyers were forced to wait until 1986 for their own M version, primarily to allow BMW time to develop a catalyzed version of the M88, now called S38. Slightly lower compression joined more restrictive emissions controls, reducing output from 286 hp in Euro M635CSi’s to 256 in what was now badged the M6. Performance, of course, was correspondingly reduced compared to the Euro M635CSi equivalent, but the M6 remained a fast, well-handling car with strong brakes, sharp steering and all the same luxury as less hardcore models.

Alpina deserves a mention here as well, as both their B7 Turbo Coupe and B7 S Turbo Coupe were among the very first turbocharged products from the famous Buchloe, Germany-based BMW tuner/manufacturer. The former shared a 3.0 liter, 300 hp six with the E12-based B7 Turbo saloon, and the latter utilized the same 330 hp 3.5 liter as found in the B7 S Turbo version of the E12. Read more about them here at this excellent Alpina history site.

The above is far from a comprehensive breakdown of E24 production models (see for example the odd 1987-only, US-market-specific L6), but focuses on what we view to be the car’s most important and/or interesting variants. These variations may have lacked the same kind of motorsports glory endowed on the E9 by the wonderful Batmobile CSL, but nonetheless are anything but short-changed when it comes to competition heritage. Additionally, and without exception, all 86,216 E24’s built were expensive, thirsty, well-made, good to drive and even better to look at, and today represent some of the best tickets to high-end 80’s European GT ownership out there.

Special thanks to Alex T. for his valuable assistance.

Helpful links:

bigcoupe.com — E24-focused site with tech articles, buyer’s guides and an active forum

E-24.ru — Super-comprehensive Russian site with well-translated and fully-featured English portal